An announcement came across my computer screen noting the important things that American Airlines is doing with this much needed influx of cash that we all thought was necessary just to keep the airline afloat. AA is sponsoring sports teams — yes, those cash-strapped teams that actually pay their players more than the airline executives get.
Just read in USAToday that baggage fees aren’t going away. Well, we didn’t expect them to, did we, in spite of the decrease in the cost of fuel? They quoted an article in the Sun-Sentinel that said American, for example, brought in “$108 million in baggage fees for the first three months of the year, the most of any airline. Last year, the airline brought in only $32.9 million in first quarter. Several other airlines showed increases of more than 1,000% over the same period.”
“ ‘Baggage fees are lifelines for the airlines,’ George Hobica, president of Airfarewatchdog.com, says to the paper. ‘I don’t see them getting rid of them any time soon.’ Indeed, executives at several U.S. carriers now say that while fees were initially added as a way to offset last year’s spiking fuel costs, they have now become an essential part of a revamped business model,” USAToday went on to report
Almost at the same time, American Airlines has announced that they are getting ready to add baggage fees to some international flights as well as domestic flights. They announced a charge of $50 for the second-checked-bag. American said the fees would apply on routes to, from, or through India, as well as the Belgium, England, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Spain and Switzerland starting September 14. The first bag is still free.
According to NYSportsJournalism.com [http://nysportsjournalism.squarespace.com/american-air-nfl8209/], “American Airlines has signed a three-year deal with the New England Patriots making the carrier the official airline and an official sponsor of the NFL team.” This includes a sponsorship of the New England Revolution, which also plays in Gillette Stadium, plus the St. Louis Rams and the Dallas Cowboys.
Well, excuse me. Now I definitely won’t complain when I pay my $40 ($20 each way) to have my clothes accompany me on a trip. This is going to help pay to “fly many of the players who comprise the Patriots’ 50th Anniversary Team for a ceremony in their honor at the Patriots’ regular season opener against the Buffalo Bills at Gillette Stadium on Sept. 14” and “to support the Patriots game in London at Wembley Stadium against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers on Oct. 25 as part of the NFL’s International Series.” Well, yay – go, team, go!
While this is all marketing and designed to attract a certain segment of the population to American Airlines or to heighten the awareness for others of the places American serves, I’m wondering if not having the fees and increasing customer service might, in fact, have the same effect. What do you think?
Photo: Paul Keleher/Flickr Creative Common
After several decades working in a variety of jobs as a newspaper writer, event publicist, communications specialist, and marketing director, Karen Cummings is now “retired” and working on Travelers United’s social media and newsletters in addition to occasionally contributing a travel-related article to TU’s blog. She lives close to her family in Fryeburg, Maine, and travels as often as she can.
